American TV comedy Essay Example for Free

American TV comedy Essay Sit-coms in television history have been one of the most important genres for expressing the values of the middle and lower classes in our society, not in order to make fun of them but to express the best of them in a softer way. For the general public today, the sit-com is like the pantomime was for the Victorians. British comedy still has a Victorian taste, but it is one that is only recognized and truly appreciated by the British, which makes the British sitcoms less universal, and it does also express a more localised British culture. In reality, the appeal of American sit-coms in relation to the British is clear. In the UK, the use of social class stereotypes is more intense; they rely on a more complex social background than the US. Although it is generally felt that UK culture is gradually becoming less defined by the stereotypes of social class, it is notable that in the last five years of television, many sit-coms in UK television continue to approach mainly social class issues, which have more to do with the working class than ever before. For example, in the last year there were two productions that clearly illustrate this point: Shameless and Little Britain, recent productions by Channel 4 and the BBC, used the stereotype of the English working class. In one way it is not a universal appeal, the cultural facts make these productions localised for the UK audience. Shameless was about a family living on benefits in a council flat in Manchester. The main theme was their struggle to survive every day life. The central characters are seven children who where abandoned by their mother and are now looked after largely by their older sister because the father is an irresponsible, but arguably charming, alcoholic living on benefits. Little Britain centred around two actors who created a series of sketches; different situations which portrayed many peculiar stereotypes in English society, from a shoplifting seventeen year old girl living in east London, to a disabled man in Birmingham on benefits who shamelessly uses his generous best friend to help him with the basic daily tasks, despite the fact that he is perfectly capable of doing these tasks himself. These cultural issues make British sit-coms funny to those who recognise the social types, but if it is to be shown to an American audience the essential part of the funny elements are lost, principally because it is not related to Americans in the same way it relates to the English. In American sit-coms the appeal is more universal; there are more general jokes and the use of class is less than in the UK. Sit-coms like Friends and Will and Grace have a more general approach and the dramatisation of social issues is almost nonexistent. The jokes are directly related to the actors. When Will from Will and Grace wants to make a joke he makes one, it is not his background and his social status which is the joke but what he says. In Friends, the audience can observe the same phenomenon. Joes jokes have more to do with himself, or other members of the cast, than about his new girlfriend or the fact that she is from a working class family. Situation comedy in Britain evolved from radio comedy which in turn had its roots in music hall and variety. American sit-com developed from radio soap opera, weekly drama series which were devised to attract audiences in order to sell products. The domestic setting predominated in both variations of the form. Many early American sit-coms were transferred from radio to television. 1 Radio comedy assumed a sit-com format to attract a broader audience and to encourage listeners to listen to the shows on a regular basis. Stopping to listen to a sit-com radio show at a certain time of the week became a habitual form of entertainment for many families. For the television industry, the formula was already developed by the radio and, like everything else which is successful, copying this form was inevitable. Most sit-coms fit into our reality principally because they try to use real people in realistic situations. The programmes only last half an hour and for a fixed number of episodes. In the basic sit-com, the location is the same and every episode is self-contained; it has an end (most of the time happy) in the thirty minute slot, which allows the narrative to flow at a different pace in different weeks. The stereotypical fashion of the characters and their social types provide the humour and the ideology of the sit-com. Sit-com cannot function without stereotypes. In a space as brief as a thirty-minute sit-com, immediacy is imperative, and for a character to be immediately funny that character must be a recognisable type; a representation or embodiment of a set of ideas or a manifestation of a clichi. 2 For the American sit-com, the stereotype has to have a more universal appeal, where in Britain these stereotypes are more easily recognized in our local society, and the male and female stereotype interacts with the surroundings, making it part of the actors character. However, audiences can notice a change in American sit-coms in the last five years. They are using a more straight-forward form in sit-coms like Will and Grace. In this show, there is a new use of gay stereotypes being very open but with a universal appeal. Will is a camp butch gay guy whereas his best friend is camp and feminine, perhaps the funniest of the two of them. In Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, there is the camp gay guy who interacts with an ugly and fat flatmate. But the jokes and situations in which they are involved do not have a universal appeal because their jokes exploit additional stereotypes in English society that make the programme incomprehensible for anyone other than the British. The use of such stereotypes promotes the illusion of community which can be recognized by an audience. Making fun of any strange behaviour which is not acceptable in society, one way or another, is part of the sit-com format. Situation comedy is seen as light entertainment. According to TV producers, its function is to attract funding and to catch the audience early in the evening, offering a laugh which temporarily gives them an escape from reality. In the early days of television they were seen more as a kind of family programme. Nowadays, this light form of entertainment appeals more to a middle class part of society where after a hard day of work individuals want to watch TV without stress. It is more a form of general entertainment than anything else. Such entertainments were deliberately escapist, in that they allowed audiences to briefly recapture the sense of community destroyed by industrialisation and urban expansion. 3 There are three possible locations in which a situation comedy takes place. The first is the home and it is generally based around a family situation. The second is the workplace and the situation that occurs as a result of interaction between characters in the work environment. The third area is less clearly defined but involves a group somehow connected in a situation outside that of the workplace. 4 Shameless uses the characters neighbourhood to plot the situations, where Friends uses a flat and a local cafi , in which the characters usually meet. The use of similar locations guarantees a more realistic experience for the viewer. For Shameless viewers, the association is automatically recognised by an English audience. However, for the American audience the association would not be clear. The English audience is used to the number of council areas around many of its cities where Americans are not. In Friends, the locations appeal to both nationalities; friends meeting in a coffee shop and living together can be recognized in either country in the same way. The connection with reality engages the public more and makes Friends a more universal and commercial program than Shameless, where the scenery can only be recognized by an English audience. Despite the fact that most English sit-coms use local stereotypes, some English sit-coms have been successfully translated to American television. The show Absolutely Fabulous was originally a successful show in the UK and became one of the rare examples of a show which was screened in America and achieved the same success as it did in Britain. The only problem was that before the series could go on view, the producers decided to change many of the jokes which, for the American audience, were considered to be too rude. Plans to show the series in the USA met with problems because it was regarded as too vulgar and too pro-drug, as were the scripts for an American remake submitted to ABC TV after Roseanne Barr acquired the rights. In the end, the first British series was screened in the USA in 1994 and met with success, winning two Emmys (televisions equivalent of the Oscar). It achieved a cult status in the USA, as it did in Australia. 5 What the American producer judged as too vulgar was only a representation of British society during the Thatcher era. Absolutely Fabulous is no more than a production which explores the 70s and 80s in the present context. In one way or another, it is a portrait of English feminism and a society where post-industrial Britain had strong capitalist roots. The past and the Thatcherite present are, at times, played off against each other to produce comedy and social comment while at other points they meld together in hilarious confusion. 6 The main characters spend most of their time shopping and drinking, where Edinas daughter is more linked to nature and late twentieth century values (the post-feminism era). She only drinks natural drinks and dresses with a feminist attitude. It is the clash of both present and past which makes the comedy. The exchange of values in the way that the mothers role, which is to look after her daughter, is inverted, and the confusion with the past by Edina and Patsy which transforms Absolutely Fabulous into an international sit-com. In conclusion, there is one answer for the question Why is the English sit-com not that universal? British TV productions have had some success exporting their productions. However, the answer rests with the cultural aspects of the programmes themselves. The English audience is more open to American productions due to the fact that they are more universal; the jokes, the plots, and the sceneries can be incorporated into any culture with no need of any adjustment. The British sit-coms usually explore a more local stereotype and surroundings which make the export of these productions almost impossible. The amount of cultural ideology, which makes them funny, cannot be translated in many cases. Productions like Friends and Will and Grace explore more the actors personalities and lives than their surroundings. The cultural aspects in many cases are nonexistent. When the shoplifter from Little Britain appears, the joke is often not what she says but her accent and the way she dresses. It is a clear association with somebody who lives in the east end of London the stereotype which makes it funny, the association of the audience with reality. For a Londoner, this association comes automatically because each viewer probably knows someone like that, or would have seen somebody or even heard such an accent before. This kind of aspect cannot be translated, and in the British sit-com these references play an integral part. American productions are more appealing to an international audience because they do not focus excessively on local cultural aspects. Bibliography: Coner, J.; Harvey. S. (1996) Television Times: A Reader. Arnold Geraghty, C.; Lusted, D. (1998) Television Studies Book. Arnold Goodwin, A.; Whannel, G. (1990) Understanding Television. Routledge Marris, P.; Thornham S. (1996) Media Studies A reader. Edinburgh University Press. Neale, S; Krutnik, F. (1990) Popular film and Television Comedy. Routledge Palmer, J. (1987) The Logic of the Absurd: On film and Television. BFI Books. Strinati, D.; Wagg, S. (1992) Come on Down? Popular Media Culture in Post -War Britain. Routledge 1 Goodwin, A.; Whannel, G. (1990) Understanding Television. Routledge P130 2 Corner, J.; Harvey, S. (1996) Television Times: A Reader. Arnold P111 3 Corner, J.; Harvey, S. (1996) Television Times: A Reader. Arnold P112 4 Goodwin, A.; Whannel, G. (1990) Understanding Television. Routledge P132 5 Geraghty, C.; Lusted, D. (1998) Television Studies Book. Arnold. P289 6 Geraghty, C.; Lusted, D. (1998) Television Studies Book. Arnold. P289

Technology and the Future of Pornography

Technology and the Future of Pornography Pornography and the Internet: A Healthy Marriage To say that pornography is a profitable industry is to terribly understate reality. Though it does not have it’s own NAICS ‘code’, estimates of the extent to which sex sells range from at least $1 billion to up to $50 billion dollars annually (Byers 2004, p. 6; Cronin Davenport 2001, p. 38; Davidson 2003, p. 92; Murray 2004, p. 9; Simpson 2003, p. 1). Clearly, the estimates are wide ranging, due in large part to the lack of formal reporting methods for such occupations as â€Å"prostitute† and â€Å"exotic dancer† while adult bookstores may, from an industry accounting perspective, may simply be viewed as a â€Å"bookstore†. In addition, it is important to note that the pornography pseudo-industry is not just a multi-billion dollar force, it is a growing industry. Market Overview The principal reason for its recent explosive growth is in many ways similar to reason for pornography’s first â€Å"boom†, the invention of the printing press. The press permitted wide scale distribution and subsequent access of not just Bibles and books but other ‘subjects of interest’ which allowed the public’s latent desires to be aroused. In more recent times, the internet represents the application of disruptive technology in that it is a form of distribution that, especially for pornography, presents additional advantages over the pornography of yesterday with regards to a distribution that is an order of magnitude larger than the press is capable (Davidson 2003, p. 91). Pornography that is online represents a significant portion of the broader category of pornography in general which also includes print, television and music media. This category in turn is part of an even larger segment of â€Å"sex† which further encompasses adult clu bs, escort services and other products and services that are estimated to contribute the almost half a trillion dollar global industry. Of this, though estimates are difficult due to the nature of the industry, analysts suggested in 1999 that between $2-2.5 billion is from online sources, a figure which constitutes perhaps  ½ of all online revenues (Cronin Davenport 2003, p. 38; Byers 2004, pp. 6-7, Thompson 2005, p. 32). Concurrent with the growth in revenue is the proliferation of a pornographic web content which witnessed an eightfold (8x) growth between 2001 and 2005 (Thompson 2005, p. 32). One net effect of this is an overall industry is that it is both an attractive industry with regards to margins yet is highly competitive and fragmented. In further consideration of the industry, the following analysis is presented: Strengths – Pornography is perhaps as recession-proof an industry as the funeral home business. The product is backed by a millennia of biological imperative and fueled by a never-ending thirst for satisfaction and pleasure. When enabled by ubiquitous internet technology, it is easier to access and this access breeds familiarity which in turn creates a creeping social acceptance. Weaknesses – Clearly pornography is not ‘embraced’ by society as a whole. While there is evidence that its consumption may lead to a host of social ills such as violence or exploitation of children, this industry faces a stigma greater than industries such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling or firearms. Opportunities – Though there are some signs that, in its current iteration, the industry is maturing (Cronin Davenport 2001, p. 45). Despite this, there should be little doubt that, â€Å"†¦the digital age is porn’s golden age† (Byers 2004, p.8). Additionally, the nature of both the industry and the technology presents a very low cost of entry to a trade for it seems there is an insatiable demand. Threats – Perhaps the greatest threat is simply negative stigma attached to pornography as being obscene, indecent, perverted, ‘dirty’ or other negative label. Though consumers are relatively assured of anonymity, there remains a fear of being discovered whether by one’s spouse, supervisor, congregation, neighbors or others. Worth mentioning is the threat of being â€Å"outlawed†. Though pornography functions under a broad interpretation of the US first amendment concerning free speech, illicit pornography still manages to flourish, especially in the age of the internet. Overall, though pornography may be a maturing industry, due in large part to the omnipresence of the internet, it is an evolving one due to the fact that 2/3 of Americans have internet access (Management Today 2005, p. 19: Thompson 2005, p. 32). Of this online activity in 2004, excluding pornography, the market for paid online content was almost $2 billion of which â€Å"personals and dating† and â€Å"entertainment lifestyles† construed approximately half (Thompson 2005, p. 32). This evolution is a consequence to the interest to facilitate the distribution anonymous, affordable and on-demand pornography. This broad distribution, while meeting an apparent pent-up consumer demand, has had the side effect of ‘decentralizing’ a formerly constrained industry. For example, whereas one previously had to venture to seedy locales that were, for the most part, geographically restricted to a certain area of town to partake of pornography, pornography is now virtuall y everywhere (Davidson 2003, p. 97). Subsequently, this decentralization has resulted in a broader acceptance manifested by both wider recognition of its existence and the ‘pushing back’ of the line of what constitutes socially acceptable â€Å"pornography†. For example, consider the 1995 release of music from convicted felon Snoop Doggy Dogg in which group and oral sex was ‘advocated’ (!). Prior to this controversial release, one might have thought that the fundamental laws of economics and the general sensibilities and tolerances of even youth would essentially squelch such ‘filth’ yet, to the surprise of many, the songs in questions hit the top of the charts and sold over 300,000 copies within weeks (Davidson 2003, p. 100). Clearly, such an example illustrates the slipping lines of what is tolerated, accepted and even embraced by society. Technology Enabled Pleasure Marketing With this degree of financial impact pornographers, regardless of perceived social virtues, there is a penultimate combination of marketing- and technology-savvy that is driven by the motivation of the obtaining just a piece of the fortunes that seemingly stand to be taken. Beginning with a virtually irresistible and attractive product, modern pornographers have been at the forefront of profitably e-commerce almost since the inception of the internet. Pornographers are widely regarded as the first and most profitable internet business models (Davidson 2003, pp. 191-192; Vinas 1996, p.11). Though they are marketing a highly desirable product, pornographers have both employed technology and been facilitated by the nature of the technology of the internet in a number of ways to enable their business. Key to facilitating online pornography are the following characteristic of e-commerce (Cronin Davenport 2001, pp. 36-37): Transparency – The internet as a consumptive product is truly â€Å"WYSWYG†, the compu-speak acronym for â€Å"what you see is what you get†. Immediacy – With the internet, one’s delay in gratification is limited solely by the size of one’s wallet (or purse), the bandwidth of connection and the speed at which one can click. Disintermediation – Clearly, the internet is a medium which readily lends itself to a direct-to-consumer business model in which profit-taking, cost-increasing middlemen are eliminated. Price Competition – A key aspect of the ability of the internet to facilitate comparable prices for comparable products is the speed and availability of consumers to ‘price shop’ and vote with their financial patronage for the product which grants them the greatest utility. Convenience – 24/7. No clerks. No â€Å"Closed† signs†¦. And you never have to even get dressed and leave the house. Accessibility – The internet in not only in your home, it is also in your office (a fact that has been the bane of some), it is on the road and if you do not own a computer, you can likely borrow a public access terminal at the local library. Modularity – A consumer is not forced to ‘one-top shop’ – they can fulfill one fetish of their pastiche identity at one site and another at a different site†¦. Something for everyone, or rather, everything for almost anyone. Low Switching Costs – There is little â€Å"lock-in† through contracts or any other means. A consumer can, with little or no direct or indirect cost incursion, switch from â€Å"this-is-my-fantasy† to â€Å"that-is-my-fantasy†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ they can even likely have both, maybe, bandwidth permitting, simultaneously. Impersonality – This factor is one of the most salient in that, within reason, anonymity is relatively assured. For ‘respectable’ persons to be able to acquire smut desires of their heart without having to risk discovery is likely a key driver of the how technology is driving the financial success of pornography. Similar to the nine factors above, other theorists similarly summarize the key drivers of the proliferate success of online pornography such as Cooper’s ‘Triple A Engine’ in which access, affordability and anonymity come together for tremendous synergy (Byers 2004, p. 1). An additional factor that is present in online pornography is found in the very nature of internet technology itself: the ability to gather, analyze and act upon actual consumptive data (Davidson 2003, p. 181). Pornographers are perhaps among the world’s greatest marketeers in their ability to mine data and utilize this information to drive additional sales or, as one report puts it, charge and collect a fee for the customer to have the opportunity to spend even more money (Weber 1997, A1).. Thorns of E-Commerce Though surfing the internet is perhaps functionally anonymous, there are nonetheless bits and pieces of data left behind of which many cases are involuntarily and unknowing. For example, if a certain user, identifiable initially by a specific IP address visits one certain site, porn marketeers make use of computer algorithms to predict additional sites of interest which are then presented as pop-ups or other intrusive internet marketing techniques. For consumers who voluntarily submit information such as might be utilized for â€Å"club†-access, the pornographer has access to even more information in addition to information gleaned from recurrent visits such as which web pages were viewed, etc. As technology has enable pornography, pornographers have quite likely made full use of this technology using, at best, ethically questionable marketing tactics. Such tactics are designed redirect unsuspecting internet surfers to either an explicit web site or to a gateway to one. Once there, pornographers often make it very difficult to leave yet very easy, i.e., automatic, to come back. While it is an accepted retailer strategy to take such steps as utilizing larger shopping carts, positioning commodities such as milk or toilet paper at the back of a store, and to utilized free samples, pornography-in-general has a reputation for ‘virtually’ kidnapping browsers through hiding or re-tasking exit buttons, unrequested software downloads, resetting home pages and other techniques designed to direct consumers to their sites, entice them with their wares and keep them there longer than they might want to stay (Murray 2004, pp. 63-67). The increasing proliferation and acceptance of pornography represents a significant market force for marketeers as this force works ‘both ways’. That is, as pornography gains a larger market, the ‘pie’ grows in size while, consequently, what was taboo becomes more normalized, pornographers must become increasing creative in pushing the envelope. The downside for pornographic producers is that they are fundamentally limited by a fixed number of body orifices and the arriving at some new form of ‘sex’ would seem to be a finite proposition. This dual-natured dilemma is also represented in the efforts of some in society to squelch or at least, contain pornography by the proposal of a â€Å".xxx† internet domain designation for ‘x-rated’ sites. On one side, such a device would make it easier to filter out unwanted pornography yet it requires compliance from both the pornographic industry and a desire for compliance on behalf of the consumer. Additionally, in the event that such a requirement was enacted, it would serve the ‘undesirable’ purpose of legitimatizing an industry that many would just as soon pretend did not exist. Finally, such an action might have the ‘net’ effect of essentially doubling the available cyber-shelf space of pornography as marketeers could simply operation two identical sites (one site with two IP addresses) (Trueman 2005, p. 12a). As pornographers gain financially, they do not do so in isolation. In addition to generating revenue from targeted ad placements in pornographic media, other firms profit directly from its success and distribution. For example, payment intermediaries such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and similar firms capture a fixed percentage of every ‘dirty’ dollar and, as was indicated previously, there are ‘many-billion’ of them. Despite the massive financial gain, credit card firms may be under pressure from groups that would prefer pornography not to exist (Lubove 2003). Regardless of the hassles that the credit card oligopolies seek to impose, the sheer financial impetus of the industry is assurance that the mother of invention, if needed, will create a solution that will deliver the goods to lonely, demanding consumers. The Future of Pornography Regardless of one’s love or hate of pornography, it is the nature of fallen man to seek pleasure and avoid pain. It is the nature of the capitalism to meet the needs of any market with funds sufficient to cover the costs. Thus, the question is not whether pornography will exist, rather, the question is what will it look like and how will it be delivered? Currently, the continuing emergence of broadband and multimedia applications is fueling the growth of mobile telecommunications equipment. This segment resulted in over $600M revenue in Europe in 2003 and is projected to grow 5x in less than three years to over $3 billion (Booth 2003, p. 17). With regards to the current version of online pornography, there is likely to be either increased regulation of marketing practices or the growth of third-party software providers to block aggressive attempts and the pornographers’ online version of the telecommunications industry’s ‘slamming’ practices. As cyber space becomes more crowded and competitive with seemingly indistinguishable offerings, more traditional marketing strategies such as ‘adding value’, emphasizing communities and clubs and niche marketing will be more extensively utilized. In addition, due to the social stigma associated with not only pornography but advertising it as well, marketeers will likely focus on programs that are subtle, suggestive and semiotic (rather than ‘in-your-face’). In addition, the continued integration of technology is likely to be a coming event. Mobile phone internet browsers that make computing at home, at the office or on the go a nea rly seamless digital environment in which you can be with either stored or streamed content of your choice anywhere. Finally, it would seem as the next step of the industry and the ultimate future of online pornography will complete virtual sex experiences in which there is participation as well as sights, sounds and sensation. Though â€Å"teledildonics† is a well-explored concept, there are no commercially available products currently available (Balderson Mitchell 2001). Regardless, the arrival in the homes of technology that currently exists with remote surgery apparatus will herald a new techno-sexual renaissance which, as history has witnessed, pornography will eagerly adopt. Works Consulted Author Unknown. (2005, December). Management Today, p. 19. Balderson, M., and Mitchell, T. (2001). â€Å"Virtual Vaginas and Pentium Penises A Critical Study of Teledildonics and Digital S(t)imulation†. http://www.georgetown.edu/users/baldersm/essays/teledildonics.pdf. Accessed February 3, 2006. Booth, N. (2003, November). â€Å"More Bang for Your Buck†. Total Telecom Magazine, p. 17. Byers, L. (2004, April). â€Å"Pornography and the Internet†. University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada (MA Thesis). Cronin, B., and Davenport, E. (2001). â€Å"E-Rogenous Zones: Positioning Pornography in the Digital Economy†. The Information Society, (17), pp. 33-48. Davidson, D. (2003). Selling Sin: The Marketing of Socially Unacceptable Products, 2nd edition. Praeger: Westport, Connecticut. Lubove, S. (2005, March 1). â€Å"Visa’s Porn Crackdown†. http://www.forbes.com/2003/05/01/cz_sl_0501porn_print.html. Murray, B. (2004). Defending the Brand: Aggressive Strategies for Protecting Your Brand in the Online Area. American Management Assocication: New York, New York. Simpson, N. (2003, Fall). â€Å"The Money Shot: How the Porn Business Resurrected the Studio System†. University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada (MA Thesis). Thompson, M. (2005, August). â€Å"Online Recreation†. Technology Review, p. 32. Trueman, P. (2005, September 15). â€Å".XXX Would Legitimatize Porn†. USA Today, p. 12a. Vinas, T. (1998, September 21). â€Å"X-Rated and on the A-List†. IndustryWeek, pp. 11-12. Weber, T. (1997, May 20). â€Å"The X-Files: For those who scoff at internet commerce, here’s a hot market Raking in millions, sex sites use old-fashioned porn and cutting edge tech Lessons from the Mainstream†. The Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. A1. New York, New York.

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Merced Home Products-Accounting Ethics Case Wayne A Shaker OMGT 308-001.2014,SP, Financial and Managerial Accounting Instructor: Paul H. Robinson, JD, CPA â€Æ' Most profit making companies understand conducting business within an ethical reporting framework is the proper way to report quarterly results. Often accounting managers are given opportunities to exercise judgment in financial reporting, using their knowledge about the business to improve the effectiveness of financial statements. However, accounting professionals need to perform their job tasks in accordance with laws, regulations, and technical standards while supplying information that is accurate, clear, concise, and timely. At the same time, managers need to be free from pecuniary anxieties, and disclose all relevant information that could influence an intended recipients understanding of the analyses or reports. However, when managers have incentives to produce positive results, profit management can occur while misleading those who review the company’s financial statements. In the case of Merced Home Products Inc., recently hired controller Stacy Cummins has stumbled upon an accounting procedure causing her great concern. Being a new controller, Stacy reviewed the financial statements of the Home Security division discovering profits improved each quarter until a year end climax with outstanding performance. According to the assistant controller, the standard costs had been modified by Vice President, Preston Lansing to reflect positive earnings as the fiscal year progressed. Upon further investigation, Ms. Cummins discovered the president of the Merced Home Products was aware of the reporting using questionable standards and had chosen not to bother Pres... ...ose developed by the Institute of Management Accountants ("Ima," n.d.). The guidelines for ethical behavior cover professional competence, confidentiality, personal integrity, for individuals disclosing financial information. Of course, ethical behavior in reporting is critical to establish creditability to any company to infuluence growth and outside investment. In the end, ethical conduct of the individuals reporting results is essential for maintaining a solid reputation and support continued success. References Brewer, P. C., & Garrison, R. H. (2013). Introduction to managerial accounting (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Federal Securities Laws. (2002). Retrieved April 29, 2014, from https://www.sec.gov/about/laws.shtml#sox2002 Ima. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2014, from http://www.imanet.org/resources_and_publications/EthicsCenter.aspx

King Richard Essay -- History England King Richard Essays

King Richard My report is on Richard I, byname Richard the Lion-Hearted. He was born September 8, 1157 in Oxford, England. He died on April 6, 1199 in Chalus, England. His knightly manner and his prowess in the Third Crusade(1189-92) made him a popular king in his own time, as well as the hero of countless romantic legends. He has been viewed less kindly by more recent historians and scholars. Richard was the third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he was given the duchy of Aquitaine, his mother’s inheritance, at the age of 11 and was enthroned as duke at Poitiers in 1172. Richard possessed precocious political and military ability, he won fame for his knightly prowess, and quickly learned how to control the turbulent aristocracy of Poitou and Gascony. Like all Henry II’s legitimate sons, Richard had no filial piety, foresight, or sense of responsibility. He joined his brothers in the great rebellion(1173-74)against his father, who invaded Aquistaine twice before Richard submitted and received pardon. Thereafter, Richard was occupied with suppressing baronial revolts in his own duchy. His harshness infuriated the Gascons, who revolted in 1183 and called in the help of the â€Å"Young King† Henry and his brother, Geoffrey of Brittany, in an effort to drive Richard from his duchy altogether. Alarmed at the threatened disintegration of his empire, Henry II brought the feudal host of his continental lands to Richard’s aid, but the younger Henry died suddenly(June 11, 1183)and the uprising collapsed. Richard was now heir to England, and to Normandy and Anjou, and his father wished him to yield Aquitaine to his youngest brother, John. But Richard, a true southerner, would not surrender the duchy in which he had grown up. Richard received Normandy on July 20, and the English throne on September 30. Richard, unlike Philip, had only one ambition, to lead the crusade prompted by Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem in 1187. He had no conception of planning for the future of the English monarchy, and put up everything for sale to buy arms for the crusade. Yet he had not become king to preside over the dismemberment of the Angevin Empire. He broke with Philip and didn’t neglect Angevin defenses on the Continent. Open war was averted only because Philip also took the cross. Richard dipped deep into his father’s treasure and sold sherif... ...of Hubert Walter, justifier and archbishop of Canterbury. It was Richard’s impetuosity that brought him to his death at the early age of forty-two. The Vicomte of Limoges refused to hand over a hoard of gold unearthed by a local peasant. Richard laid siege to his castle of Chalus and in an unlucky moment was wounded. He died in 1199. He was buried in the abbey church of Fontevrault, where Henry II and Queen Eleanor are also buried, and his effigy is still preserved there. Richard was a thoroughgoing Angevin, irresponsible and hot-tempered, possessed of tremendous energy, and capable of great cruelty. He was more accomplished than most of his family, a soldier of consummate ability, a skillful politician, and capable of inspiring loyal service. He was a lyrical poet of considerable power and the hero of troubadours. He was both an honored and despised man. Works Cited: A History of the Crusades; Vol. 3; 1954 Richard the Lion Heart; K. Norgate; 1969 Itinerary of King Richard the First; L.Landon; 1935 Loss of Normandy 1189-1204; 2nd Edition; 1961 Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings; A. Kelly; 1950 Encyclopedia Britannica Online; www.eb.com; 1999

Internet Shorthand :: Communication Language Computers Essays

Internet Shorthand Translate the following conversation, if you can: GUY1: wuz up? GUY2: nm, just chillin, u? GUY1: co’, btw did u hear about joe GUY2: no GUY1: imho, hes crazy :) he told julia that he wanted 2 8==D her @ the mall GUY2: roflmao! :) ur right, hes crazy GUY1: 4 real GUY2: hey, I g2g, ttyl GUY1: l8r Any guess on to what is going on? Well, I’ll go ahead and give you the basic rundown on what the conversation said: Guy1 was commenting on how is friend Joe asked a girl (Julia) if they could have consensual sex together in the local mall. Guy2 found this exchange very amusing, as he was â€Å"rolling on the floor laughing my ass off†. Furthermore, Guy1 also interjected his own personal opinion that Joe was/is crazy. Finally they agreed to converse at a later date. All that from 43 separate â€Å"symbols† and words. Welcome to the future. However, in my humble opinion, you can exchange the word ‘future’ with ‘hell’. The internet, chatting and the glut of instant messengers have helped create a subculture of the English langue that is starting to creep into everyday life. It’s a disturbing trend. I feel the line needs to be drawn between the fast flowing conversational style shorthand of internet writing and formal English style before the way we write as we know it makes a radical change towards simple pictures and codes. Maybe part of my opinion is based on spite: If I had to learn all the dos and don’ts of modern English, so should you. But I think it’s more then just that. I can see the writing on the wall and it’s not looking too bright. Dumbing down the language to simplest terms can be a very dangerous thing. Don’t believe me, flip through a copy of Orwell’s 1984 and you’ll see how Big Brother has developed a â€Å"plainspeak† directive. In fact, I’m not alone in this belief. In Sven Birket’s article â€Å"Into the Electronic Millennium† he discusses the devolution of modern language: â€Å"The complexity and distinctiveness of spoken and written expression, which are deeply bound to traditions of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of ‘plainspeak’† (70).

John.F Kennedy Choose to Go to the Moon

John F. Kennedy We choose to go to the moon Context: My speech was spoken by President Kennedy. The context of the speech was that it was made on a hot summer during 1962, outside in the football stadium of Rice University in Houston. President Kennedy made his speech on ‘we choose to go to the moon’. He did not only spoke to the citizens of United States, but to the whole world. He spokes about making small steps to the moon. Purpose: Throughout the speech, Kennedy was to persuade the audience to agree on the decision of going up to the moon.He was trying to convince the audience that the good deal of money will result a country’s pride. He also wanted to show the whole world that America was ready to take on the dream of going up to the moon, and they will be the first country to achieve this dream. Structure/Language: The speech begins with President Kennedy standing behind a platform with crowd around him. He thanked a list of people and the principle of Rice University to show respect.Then, he admitted the fast going scientific manpower by comparing with the rate of population growth. While he gives examples such as ‘Only five years ago man learned to write and use a cart with wheels’ to the audiences of how the world is changing, he connected to the main point of ‘America’s new spacecraft succeeds in reaching Venus, we will have literally reached the stars before midnight tonight. ’ This sentence was to give the audience of hope and pride to a big change of their nation.By appealing to public opinion he was further building a base for America’s journey to the Moon. He spoke about the huge costs that will be used on the space effort, but he made a joke about money used on cigars compared to the costs of going up on to the moon. Throughout the speech, he used lots of metonymy. He talked about how America started industrial revolution and first wave of nuclear power, and then successfully explained by appealing to the pride of Americans how they will again catch the first wave of going up to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard†¦ † â€Å"Yes, we choose to do these things because they are hard and because they will measure as and the will which is ours. † By posing the question â€Å"are we willing to? † he told the whole America, in fact the whole world that America was ready and will be the first country to go up the moon. Video: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=ouRbkBAOGEw Script: http://www. historyplace. com/speeches/jfk-space. htm

In Our Modern Urban Lifestyle Essay

Following the development of technology, the quality of life becomes better off. It is attractive enough to live in cities, because people can enjoy a lot of convenient facilities. However, some people believe that many people do not know their neighbours and the sense of community has been lost with the increasing number of people in cities. In this essay the effect of the modern urban lifestyle in cities will be discussed. Nowadays, many people tend to live in cities for different reasons. They move into cities mainly for work. Because they leave early in the morning and come back home late in the evening. They do not want to waste their time on a train or bus. If they live in cities, they do not need to wake up early to take a train or bus. Furthermore, living in cities means that they can easily find places or facilities to fill their every need in the urban life, which is valued in the individual lifestyle rather than the sense of community. On the other hand, many people seem to be more isolated than ever before. Because of focusing on the individual lifestyle in modern time, it is hard to have an opportunity to make a deep relationship with people living around. People do not usually know what happens to their neighbours. Humans are social creatures that cannot be independent of others. As a result, even if there are a lot of convenient places in cities, they cannot fulfil satisfaction of people. Most people in cities fall into the sense of isolation. They need to realise the negative effect of their lifestyle and make effort to join in communities in their lives, so that they can live in a simpler way of life.